The world is full of babies

Isabella and I have been doing a mom and baby outdoor bootcamp class. The babies hang out in the grass or in the strollers while the moms exercise. Isabella is the most mobile of the whole group. Most of the babies are older than her, but they can sit still and amuse themselves. But not Isabella. She crawls around, goes into the bushes, takes other babies toys. The instructor ends up readjusting her several times throughout the class. The first photo is from the baby bootcamp class.

Our god daughter Julianna turned 2 last week and Steve and Sandy had a few friends over. There didn't seem to be a large group of adults, but when Tony and I counted up the kids there were 17 of them! There were definately more children than adults. Luckily Steve and Sandy have a big enough house and yard to accommodate all of us. In The photo of all the kids on the couch we're actually missing. Happy cleaning Sandy!

Bottomless and Beer

What's the best cure for a diaper rash? Being diaper free! Isabella has a pretty bad diaper rash. We're not sure what caused it. Today I've been nervously letting her roam "free" on the floor. No mess to clean up yet, but I'm sure it will come soon. I've got to keep a close watch on her.

If anyone's curious, we went to the doctor last week and she weighs 15 lbs 4 oz. What a lightweight.

Knit

I knit my first hat for Isabella. I know how to knit, but Jing taught me how to knit in the round when we were at the cottage. Thanks Jing. The hat is a perfect fit. Isabella has a purple coat that she got from Sandy. It's a perfect match. My next knitting project is to make a stuffed cupcake. I struggled with starting it last night, gave up and went to bed. I'll keep trying and let you know.

Latest skill

Isabella's latest skill is pulling herself up onto her knees. Sometimes she falls backwards, but doesn't seem to be too phased by it. Here are some photos of her chewing on her toy bin. She also tried squash today. She could use a bit more raquet control, but overall did well.

Is that a banana in your pocket?

A wedding dress and a size 6 months halloween costume are two of the outfits one wears once in a lifetime.

Isabella is going to be a monkey for Halloween. I want her to get some good wear out of the costume so I'll be putting her in it once a week until Halloween. That way she'll get at least 7 wears out of it.

Isabella does cottaging

Tony, Isabella and I took a summer vacation to 2 cottages over the span of 10 days. Cottaging used to be about relaxing, sleeping in and lazing about on the dock. Now it's about supervising a child, changing diapers and being awake at the most inconvenient hours. We started our vacation at my parents cottage near Bancroft. We spent 3 days and 2 night there. The night before we left Isabella had a fever. She barely slept and cried a lot. Once we got to the cottage, I got the flu, and Isabella continued to be sick. Thankfully there were several people around to take care of her while I rested. We left Bancroft and headed to Haliburton to a cottage we rented with our friends Chris, Julie and their 6 month old Owen as well as Fred and Jing and their 15 month old daugher Amira. There were also 4 dogs there. Isabella felt better. We hoped the country air would make her sleep through the night, but she kept up her regular routine of waking twice each night to feed. Yay! Her friend Owen also had a tough time sleeping. His teeth were coming in and they were all at different stages. Amira, on the other hand sleeps like a bear. Fred and Jing are so lucky. We considered letting Amira babysit Owen and Isabella in the bunkie overnight so the parents could get some rest, but since it was bear country we decided against it. Isabella experienced some new foods at the cottage. She had avocado and banana. These received better reviews than the carrots. She also learned to crawl. First she was moving like an inchworm, but now she has the confidence to lift her arm and push off with her knees. Time to start thinking about baby proofing. Here are a few photos from our vacation.

What we've been up to

Isabella has been visiting with some of her friends the past few weeks.

She went to the park near our condo with Theo and Maya when my friend Marie came to visit.

She went to Liam's 4th birthday party at Air Zone in Oshawa. Her daddy had a good time winning tickets at the wheel of fortune game.

We also went to Michelle's birthday party. Julianna, Liam and James had a blast attacking Tony and I.

Isabella's opinion of carrots

On August 31st, Isabella had her first taste of a flavoured food. Her palette has experienced breast milk, formula (which is disgusting), water and rice cereal. Watch the video to see what she thinks of carrots.